Page 7 of Omega
He nodded. “Yep. It’s time. I want to build a place together, you and me. Somewhere that’s ours.” A sigh. “Plus, we’re going to need a ready flow of cash for…preparations, I guess you could say.”
“Be clear, Roth. Explain what you mean by ‘preparations’.”
“Staying off the grid properly and effectively is a difficult thing to do. Even more so when you’re as wealthy as I am. See, most of my capital is…imaginary, essentially. It’s real, in the business sense and in the business world, where I have contacts at every bank, all over the world. But if you want to be off the grid, investment properties and net worth are meaningless. Cash is king, out here. And beingworthtens of billions of dollars is no good to me unless I can convert it to cash, or make it readily available in cash. But, especially in the quantities I’m going to need, that is hard to do. As for why?” Roth paused, his hand idly caressing my side. “Honestly, Vitaly is still a very real threat to me, to us. He’s out there somewhere, waiting, biding his time. He’s a big venomous spider with a very elaborate web, just waiting for us to set one of his strands to vibrating. I need to find a way for us to vanish entirely, or I’ve got to take him out. Neither proposition is easy.”
“Which approach are you leaning towards?” I asked.
“Vanishing, to be honest. Not because I want to run away from him, but because I’m smart enough, and know him well enough, to know I’m not entirely willing to start a war. And that’s what it would take. Now that Gina is dead and he realizes his sanctum can be assaulted, he’s going to be on high alert. And he has access to many, many times more men and weapons than I do. I’m worth more, financially, but he’s a wily old fox with a network like no one else in the world. To go after him, to try and kill him…it would take a full-on war.” He touched my chin, and I craned my neck to look up at him. “There’s been enough bloodshed.”
I nodded. “Yes, there has. I’ll go where you go, and I’ll support whatever you decide to do. I just…I don’t want to spend my life being afraid, either.”
“So, you’d go after him, then?” Roth seemed surprised.
I took a moment to think. “I’ve had a taste of death. The thought of going through anything like that again makes me sick. Seeing you or Layla or Harris get hurt…I’m not sure I could handle that. But at the same time, I’m not willing to run away from him for the rest of my life. I’d rather make a stand, or even go after him if that’s what it takes. I’ll shoot him myself, if I have to. I’ve done it once, I can do it again.”
“Well, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. I’ve got some ideas, which is why we’re heading up to the States.”
I rested my chin on his chest; stared up at his piercing blue eyes. “You said there was another reason we are heading back to the States, one that has to do with us.”
He took my hand in his, my left hand, the one with the two-carat diamond engagement ring, his thumb nudging the ring side to side on my finger. “It’s been six months since I proposed. I think it’s time to do something about that, don’t you?”
“Do something about it?” I felt breathless. “Like what?”
“Like get married.”
I just stared at him, blinking, thinking, trying to process his suggestion. “Why now?”
Roth frowned, brow furrowing. “Why not now? I love you more than life itself. I want you to be mine forever. I want you to become Kyrie Roth.”
“Yes, it has been six months, but Vitaly is still out there. I don’t know if I could ever really relax knowing that he’s still looking for us. We’ve got Layla here for her own safety, and we’ve got Harris and his team on high alert on our behalf. I want to get married, I really do, but I’ll be with you no matter what. I’ll change my name, if that’s what you want.”
He blew out a breath, frustrated, confused. “I’m not following, Kyrie. Just a bit ago on the deck you were suggesting a house in the suburbs with kids. Now you’re saying you don’t want to get married?”
I sat up, put my back to the headboard, and scraped my thick blond hair backward. “Roth, no, I’m not saying I don’t want to. I just want to know why now. Is it whatyouwant, or are you doing it because you think it’s whatIwant?”
“Both, actually. Does it really matterwhy, though?”
“Yes! It really does matter. It’s marriage, Roth. It’s not something to take lightly.”
He didn’t answer right away. “I guess maybe I see it differently. Anyone can get married. It doesn’t have to be a big deal. It’s just a ceremony, a piece of legal documentation. Unless you make it meaningful, that’s all it is.”
I laughed, but it wasn’t entirely mirthful. “You’re not making any sense. Why do you want to get married if it doesn’t mean anything? It seems like you’ve got your arguments confused.”
He stood up, paced to the window, naked. Even in the midst of what was shaping up to be a pretty serious argument, I couldn’t help appreciating his taut, muscular ass, the rippling muscles of his back, his broad shoulders, the fall of his blond hair.
“I’ll admit I didn’t see this coming, Kyrie. I thought you’d be all over this. A chance to see home again, maybe get your brother to walk you down to the aisle to me.”
“First, where’s home, now? This ship? New York? Detroit? Second, I love Cal, but I’m not sure I want to risk his safety by bringing him within a hundred miles of us and our problems. He’s an innocent kid.”
“Home is wherever we are, I suppose. Here on theEliza, France, New York…but I see your point. As for Cal, Harris has two of his guys in Chicago, keeping tabs on him. I doubt he even knows they’re there, but they’ll make sure no one else is sniffing around him.”
“I’m relieved to hear that.”
“I told you I’d keep an eye on everyone. I know you’ve sort of kept your distance from him, for his own safety. And I know that’s hard for you. And I just… I hate that you’ve had to do that because of my problems, because of my past.”
“It’sourpast now, andourproblems. Not just yours. We’re in this together.” I got out of bed and padded over to him, pressing myself up against his back. “I love you, Valentine. And yes, I want to marry you. However, whenever, wherever. And as long as you can promise me he’ll stay safe, I’d love a chance to see Cal.”
“I can’t give you a traditional wedding, Kyrie. I can’t give you a wedding with your parents on one side and mine on the other, or a little white church, or months and months to make arrangements and compile guest lists.”